UNIVERSITY OF DENVER CRIMINAL LAW REVIEW

Transcription

1 UNIVERSITY OF DENVER CRIMINAL LAW REVIEW VOLUME 4 SUMMER 2014 The Death of Fairness: Texas s Future Dangerousness Revisited Ana M. Otero 1 Using Technology the Founders Never Dreamed Of: Cell Phones as Tracking Devices and the Fourth Amendment R. Craig Curtis, Michael C. Gizzi & Michael J. Kittleson 61 Are There No Prisons? Mental Health and the Criminal Justice System in the United States Robert Rigg 103 Teaching Criminal Law: Integrating Professional Responsibility Robert Batey 131

2 University of Denver Criminal Law Review Summer 2014 The University of Denver Criminal Law Review is published annually by the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. University of Denver Criminal Law Review 2255 East Evans Avenue Denver, Colorado Cite as: 4 U. DENV. CRIM. L. REV. (2014) Subscriptions: Subscriptions to the Criminal Law Review are $20.00 per volume (plus $5.00 for mailing addresses outside the United States). All subscriptions will be renewed automatically unless the subscriber provides timely notice of cancellation. Copyright: All articles copyright 2014 by the University of Denver Criminal Law Review, University of Denver (Colorado Seminary) Sturm College of Law. For all articles for which it holds the copyright, the Criminal Law Review permits copies to be made for classroom use, provided that (1) the user notifies the Criminal Law Review of the use, (2) the author and the University of Denver Criminal Law Review are identified, and (3) the proper notice of copyright is affixed to each copy. For all other articles, contact the Criminal Law Review to request reprint permission. Form: The Criminal Law Review generally conforms to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (Columbia Law Review Ass n et al. eds., 19th ed. 2010) and to The Chicago Manual of Style (16th ed. 2010). It is the general policy of the Criminal Law Review not to keep unpublished sources used in articles, notes, or comments beyond their use for verification of citations. Inquiries as to the location of an unpublished source should be directed to the author of the article, not, or comment in which it is cited. Manuscripts: Please send all manuscripts via to the Solicitation Editor at All manuscripts should be provided as Microsoft Word documents with all citations in footnotes. Printed by Tattered Cover Press in Denver, Colorado.

9 THE DEATH OF FAIRNESS: TEXAS S FUTURE DANGEROUSNESS REVISITED Ana M. Otero * Abstract The death penalty in America continues to be a controversial topic; a rapidly changing landscape, whose efficacy is eroding under the weight of glaring injustices and proven error. In the last eight years, six states have abolished it and 146 exonerations nationwide rattle confidence in its accuracy and fairness. This article examines the future dangerousness inquiry of the Texas death penalty statute, a unique and lethal provision hastily engrafted into the revamped statute when it was enacted in Predictions of future dangerousness whether a convicted capital defendant will engage in subsequent acts of violence and constitute a continuing danger or threat to society are offered by the State in the sentencing stage of capital litigation to persuade a jury to render a sentence of death, rather than life imprisonment. This article argues that these predictions are unconstitutional and inadmissible under Texas law. * This article is dedicated to Craig Washington, a staunch champion for justice, and indefatigable advocate for truth. This article is a labor of love; a long journey derailed by life s vicissitudes. I owe a debt of gratitude to many who have accompanied me in this long and winding road. To Sally Green, for not only encouragement and support throughout, but for getting down and dirty with the first run of this piece and for letting my voice shine. To Docia Rudley, an endless source of sustenance, and to Fernando Colon, for carrying my load while I was down. A debt of gratitude to Lynda Cevallos who gave up a bit of sun to keep me from catching fire. My thanks for your passion and for feeling the pain. I want to thank Ken Williams for his time and his invaluable insights and suggestions. I am deeply grateful to my numerous research assistants for their contributions to this article. To Benjamin James, for his meticulous and thoughtful excursion into the amendments to the Texas death penalty statute. I am grateful for his patience, our long conversations, and his measured insights. I am grateful for Aaron Cowart s brilliant and analytical mind, and for his ability to excavate deep in the chambers of the 63rd Texas Legislature and the Court of Criminal Appeals. To Kavita Nair Brignac, for lending me her sharp eye, for her unyielding scalpel, and for her masterful edits. To Christopher Self, for his thoughtful ideas, excellent research, and for walking with me to the end of the road. My sincere thanks goes to the University of Denver Criminal Law Review for outstanding editorial assistance. Finally, to an unsung hero for an endless reserve of patience and support; my deepest thanks for standing by me when the road seemed impossibly hard to traverse.

10 2 UNIVERSITY OF DENVER CRIMINAL LAW REVIEW [Vol. 4 INTRODUCTION: A CONVINCING CASE FOR CHANGE Texas law governing the punishment phase of capital litigation has been incisively and fittingly described as difficult to navigate as a trip blindfolded across Texas. 1 One aspect of this law predictions of future dangerousness allows the introduction of junk science into the courtroom, duping judges and juries, and oftentimes creating irreparable consequences for defendants. Predictions of future dangerousness whether a convicted capital defendant will engage in subsequent acts of violence and constitute a continuing danger or threat to society 2 are offered by the state of Texas in the sentencing stage of capital litigation to persuade a jury to render a sentence of death, rather than life imprisonment. 3 Presumably designed to eliminate arbitrariness and to better guide the jurors in making this difficult decision, these predictions have been widely challenged and criticized because they are used to support a death sentence based on unreliable and faulty scientific evidence. Of the thirty-two capital jurisdictions, 4 Texas and Oregon are the only two states that require future dangerousness determinations by the jury. 5 The sentencing stage of most capital jurisdiction requires jurors to weigh aggravating and mitigating circumstances in deciding whether to render a verdict of death. In some jurisdictions, future dangerousness plays a role as an important factor to be considered by jurors in making their sentencing decision while in others, it is influential in determining the presence of aggravating factors; and in some states, evidence of the lack of future dangerousness acts as a mitigating factor. 6 In Texas, future dangerousness is the touchstone of the death sentence because jurors must answer one question unanimously whether there is a probability that the defendant would commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing threat to society, 7 before they can consider mitigating evidence to support a verdict less than death. 8 1 Janet Morrow & Robert Morrow, In a Narrow Grave: Texas Punishment Law in Capital Murder Cases, 43 S. TEX. L. REV. 979, 982 (2002). 2 TEXAS DEFENDER SERVICE, DEADLY SPECULATION MISLEADING TEXAS CAPITAL JURIES WITH FALSE PREDICTIONS OF FUTURE DANGEROUSNESS 4, (2004) [hereinafter Deadly Speculation], available at ( Thus, the institutional adjustment or ability of capital defendants to conform their behavior to a prison setting is generally the critical issue to consider when evaluating whether they actually continue to represent a threat to others. ); In Texas, for example, effective September 1, 2005, a capital defendant who does not get the death sentence will serve life without parole. See TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art (West 2013). 3 TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art (West 2013); Predictions of future dangerousness may be offered in other criminal settings as well. For example, one of the statutory factors the court may consider in setting the amount of bail is the future safety of the victim and the community. TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art (West 2013). Additionally, the courts may consider future dangerousness in making probation determinations, offering deferred adjudication, and approving plea bargaining agreements. Finally, future dangerousness is one of the factors considered by parole boards in making their determinations. 4 DEATH PENALTY INFO. CENTER, (last updated May 21, 2014). 5 Eugenia T. La Fontaine, A Dangerous Preoccupation with Future Danger: Why Expert Predictions of Future Dangerousness in Capital Cases Are Unconstitutional, 44 B.C. L. REV. 207, 228 (2002) (stating that Oregon is the only other state that allows this factor when making the decision to grant life or death.). 6 William W. Berry, III, Ending Death By Dangerousness: A Path to the De Facto Abolition of the Death Penalty, 52 ARIZ. L. REV. 889, 893 (2010) (explaining the varied use of future dangerousness as it applies to all capital jurisdictions). 7 TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art (b)(1) (West 2013). 8 Id. at 2(e)(1).

11 2014] THE DEATH OF FAIRNESS 3 Noted psychiatrist, Alan Stone, alluded to the difficulties of predicting future dangerousness: The decision to impose the sentence of execution is an awesome human responsibility. The retributive taking of a life in the name of justice forces the law-givers to reexamine the very concept of justice. Judges and juries should not be led to believe that the discipline of psychiatry has a scientific shoulder on which their terrible burden of decision can rest. I would, therefore, urge psychiatrists, on the grounds of humility if not truth, to inform courts that we have no professional or scientific basis for participating in a capital sentencing hearing. 9 These unreliable predictions became a staple of the sentencing scheme and a prerequisite to capital punishment after Texas revamped its statute pursuant to Furman v. Georgia, 10 the 1972 U.S. Supreme Court case which struck down the then existing death penalty statutes. While the Court did not rule that capital punishment was per se violative, the Court held that the death penalty statutes reviewed were arbitrary and capricious and constituted a violation of the 8 th Amendment. 11 Although Furman's plurality opinion lacked clarity, its effect was enormous invalidating the death penalty statutes of over thirty-five states and sending legislative bodies into a frenzied scramble to revamp their statutes to meet Furman s mandate. 12 The Texas legislature acted quickly. By 1973, it had enacted a new death penalty statute designed to address the concerns of the Furman Court. In fact, the legislative history of the bills, presented to both the House and the Senate, indicates that many hours were spent in drafting and amending the proposed law, in public hearings, and in heated debates on the floor of the legislature. Nevertheless, the future dangerousness inquiry was added with seemingly little discussion or legislative scrutiny. In 2004, the Texas Defender Service, 13 reviewed 155 cases in which prosecutors had used experts to predict a defendant s future dangerousness. 14 Its comprehensive study found that the experts were wrong 95% of the time, 15 and it made the following salient findings: (1) of the total 155 inmates against whom state experts testified, five percent 9 Alan A. Stone, Revisiting the Parable: Truth Without Consequences, 17 INT L J.L. & PSYCHIATRY 79, 91 (1994). Unfortunately, Stone also states [I have] been unable to convince my colleagues that our epistemological problems create an unbridgeable abyss in the criminal courtroom. Id. 10 Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972). In a plurality decision, the United States Supreme Court held that the current form of the death penalty was unconstitutional and violated the 8 th and 14 th Amendments. Id. at The Court reasoned that abdicating the decision to juries necessarily produced arbitrary and capricious results; therefore, it violated the Eighth Amendment s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment as applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. Id. Immediately following this decision, death penalty states scrambled to amend their death penalty statutes to comply with Furman s mandates. Marcia A. Widder, Hanging Life in the Balance: The Supreme Court and the Metaphor of Weighing in the Penalty Phase of the Capital Trial, 68 TUL. L. REV. 1341, 1347 (1994). 11 Furman, 408 U.S. at The U.S. Supreme Court decided two other death penalty cases along with Furman: Jackson v. Georgia and Branch v. Texas. Id. 12 See John W. Poulos, The Supreme Court, Capital Punishment and the Substantive Criminal Law: The Rise and Fall of Mandatory Capital Punishment, 28 ARIZ. L. REV. 143, 148 (1986). 13 The Texas Defender Service is a nonprofit organization established in 1995 by experienced Texas death penalty attorneys. The organization s mission is to improve the quality of legal representation for those who are facing the death penalty and to expose and eradicate the systemic flaws within the Texas death penalty statutes. TEX. DEFENDER SERVICE, (last visited Jun. 9, 2014). 14 Deadly Speculation, supra note 2, at xiii. 15 Id.

12 4 UNIVERSITY OF DENVER CRIMINAL LAW REVIEW [Vol. 4 engaged in seriously assaultive behavior; (2) many inmates sentenced to death based on predictions of future dangerousness have proven to be non-assaultive, compliant inmates who pose no risk to other inmates or prison guards; and (3) the use of future dangerousness question injects impermissible racial components into the sentencing process. 16 The study aptly concluded that this component of the Texas sentencing process was highly flawed. Further, it questioned the validity and fairness of many Texas death sentences 17 a grave and disturbing concern given Texas s dubious distinction of leading the nation by approximately 400 executions. 18 With Texas s top governmental leader either seemingly clueless to the depth of its broken system, or cunningly unwilling to acknowledge it, the Texas death penalty statutes have been long ignored and only serve to perpetuate a grievously flawed system. A. TEXAS S THOUGHTFUL [AND] VERY CLEAR PROCESS : THE EGREGIOUS CASE OF CAMERON TODD WILLINGHAM On September 7, 2011 at the Republican debate held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library, the moderator, Brian Williams, asked Governor Perry whether he struggled to sleep at night with the idea that any one of the 234 death row inmates executed in Texas might have been innocent. 19 Fueled by an unexpected round of applause in support of Texas s executions, Perry responded confidently. 20 While he may glibly boast that Texas has in place a thoughtful [and] very clear process, the opposite is true. Texas s death penalty system is profoundly flawed and the irrevocable consequences of its myriad problems, many of which resonate embarrassingly in the national news, are disconcerting and shameful. As this section will show, Governor Perry s statement reflects, at best, a profound ignorance; at worst, an intentional and flagrant indifference to a serious and endemic problem that continues to rattle the minds of those who battle deep in the trenches of the Texas death penalty system. In a recent article, noted prohibitionist, David Dow, mentioned possibly one of the most egregious mistakes well-known to Perry that should have caused him to lose a bit of sleep. 21 On December 23, 1991, a fire moved quickly through a one-story 16 Id. at xiv. 17 Id. at xv. 18 Juan A. Lozano, Texas Woman Set to be 500 th Execution in State, YAHOO NEWS (June 26, 2013), 19 The Republican Debate at the Regan Library, N.Y. TIMES (Sept. 7, 2011), 20 Perry said the following: No, sir. I ve never struggled with that at all. The state of Texas has a very thoughtful, a very clear process in place of which when someone commits the most heinous of crimes against our citizens, they get a fair hearing, they go through an appellate process, they go up to the Supreme Court of the United States, if that s required. But in the state of Texas, if you come into our state and you kill one of our children, you kill a police officer, you re involved with another crime and you kill one of our citizens, you will face the ultimate justice in the state of Texas, and that is, you will be executed. Id. 21 David Dow, Rick Perry s Lethal Overconfidence. THE DAILY BEAST (Sept. 9, 2011, 4:17 PM), ( There are some I think could well have been innocent Frances Newton, for example, who supposedly killed

13 2014] THE DEATH OF FAIRNESS 5 house in the city of Corsicana in northeast Texas. 22 The neighbors hurried to see Cameron Todd Willingham s house engulfed in flames as he was screaming, My babies are burning up! 23 His three daughters were trapped inside the house while he remained helpless standing on the front porch. He told the neighbors to call the fire department as he attempted to reenter the house, but it was too late. Willingham had lost all three of his children to smoke inhalation. 24 The trial began in August 1992 in downtown Corsicana and ended after two days with the jury only deliberating for barely an hour; they returned with a unanimous guilty verdict. 25 The prosecution brought forth two medical experts to confirm for the jury that Willingham was a sociopath. The first medical expert, Tim Gregory, was a psychologist with a master s degree in marriage and family issues who had also previously gone hunting with the assistant district attorney, John Jackson. 26 The other medical expert was James P. Grigson, a forensic psychiatrist also known as Dr. Death because of how frequently he testified for the prosecution in capital punishment cases. 27 Dr. Grigson diagnosed Willingham as an extremely severe sociopath. 28 Neither had even met Willingham. 29 Three years after Willingham s trial, Grigson was expelled from the American Psychiatric Association for ethics violations. 30 her husband and two children without getting even a spot of blood or speck of gunpowder on herself; or Charles Nealy, who did not remotely match the description of the person who killed the convenience store clerk. But there was no DNA in either case, and so I am left being unsure. ). Anthony Graves, Ernest Willis, Michael Toney, Michael Blair, and Robert Springsteen are just a few of the men exonerated during Perry s tenure. Id. David Dow is a professor at the University of Houston Law Center, where his teaching areas include constitutional law, contract law, and death penalty law. U. HOUS. L. CENTER, (last visited May 20, 2014). Dow formed the Texas Innocence Network, where he has represented more than a hundred death row inmates and worked to exonerate them. Id. 22 David Grann, Trial By Fire, NEW YORKER (Sept. 7, 2009), (last visited May 20, 2014). This article was featured in 2009 asking the question, Did Texas execute an innocent man? It is a detailed article portraying the events that took place in the life of Cameron Todd Wilingham and his family. Id. It reveals the step-by-step record of the tragic fire that killed Willingham s three daughters, the investigation of the fire, the alleged charges brought against Willingham, faulty arson forensic science, false expert witness testimony, incompetent counsel, and other errors that contributed to his execution. Id. 23 Id. 24 Id. 25 Id. While in prison, Willingham wrote letters to his prison pen pal, Elizabeth Gilbert, a forty-seven year-old French teacher and playwright from Houston. She began corresponding with Willingham and took an interest in his case when she noticed several contradictions in the eyewitness accounts. She filtered through the statements of witnesses that became complete opposites by the time the news spread throughout the community and the trial had begun over eight months later. Id. ( Diane Barbee had reported that, before the authorities arrived at the fire, Willingham never tried to get back into the house yet she had been absent for some time while calling the fire department. Meanwhile, her daughter Buffie had reported witnessing Willingham on the porch breaking a window, in an apparent effort to reach his children. And the firemen and police on the scene had described Willingham frantically trying to get into the house.). Furthermore, several of Willingham s friends and relative had doubts that he was guilty, including his former probation officer, Polly Goodin, and even former Judge Bebe Bridges. Id. 26 Id. 27 Id.; Mike Tolson, Effect of Dr. Death and His Testimony Lingers, HOUS. CHRON. (June 17, 2004), 28 Grann, supra note Id. 30 Id.; Laura Beil, Groups Expel Texas Psychiatrist Known for Murder Cases, DALL. MORNING NEWS (July 26, 1995) ( A statement issued last week by the psychiatric association says that Dr. Grigson violated the organization's ethics code by arriving at a psychiatric diagnosis without first having examined the individuals in question, and for indicating, while testifying in court as an expert witness, that he could predict with 100 percent

14 6 UNIVERSITY OF DENVER CRIMINAL LAW REVIEW [Vol. 4 In 1996, Willingham received a new court-appointed attorney by the name of Walter Reaves, who filed a writ of habeas corpus to introduce new evidence such as perjured testimony, unreliable medical experts, and false scientific findings. 31 The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied the writ in October of However, Willingham was granted a temporary stay of execution when he filed another writ in federal court. 33 By 2002, the Federal District Court and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals denied Willingham s writ without even a hearing, and the U.S. Supreme Court later declined to hear his case in December of Thirteen years later, in the days leading up to Willingham s execution, [in a last-ditch clemency appeal,] his attorneys sent to Governor Rick Perry and the Board of Pardon and Parole a report from Gerald Hurst, a nationally recognized arson expert, saying that Willingham s conviction was based on erroneous forensic analysis. Documents obtained by the Innocence Project show that state officials received that report but apparently did not act on it. 35 At 6:20 p.m. on February 17, 2004, Cameron Todd Willingham was executed at the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville, TX. 36 A few months after Willingham s execution, the Chicago Tribune published an investigative report challenging the forensic analysis. 37 Five of the nation s leading independent arson experts, assembled by the Innocence Project, reviewed the evidence in the case, issuing a forty-eight page report that none of the scientific analysis used to convict Willingham was valid. 38 In 2005, the Texas Legislature created the Forensic Science Commission to regulate state crime labs and investigate complaints that allege professional scientific negligence or misconduct. 39 In 2008, the agency began looking into the Willingham case, and the Ernest Ray Willis case, another similar arson case. The agency retained a wellknown national arson expert, Craig Beyler, to do an analysis of the fire investigation certainty that the individuals would engage in future violent acts. ). In response to inquiries about Dr. Grigson, Dr. Jonas Rappeport, medical director for the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, stated that no psychiatrist can predict with 100 percent certainty whether someone will be dangerous to society. Id. 31 Grann, supra note Id. 33 Id. 34 Id. 35 Cameron Todd Willingham s Surviving Relatives Petition for Posthumous Pardon 20 Years After Conviction: Nation s Arson Experts Uniformly Agree Evidence Was Flawed, INNOCENCE PROJECT (Oct. 24, 2012), humous_pardon_20_years_after_conviction.php#. 36 Id. For an article comparing the Willingham case with another very similar arson case, that of Ernest Ray Willis, see Michael Hall, Separated at Death, TEX. MONTHLY (December 2009), 37 Steve Mills & Maurice Possley, Man Executed on Disproved Forensics, CHI. TRIB. (Dec. 9, 2004), 38 Douglas J. Carpenter et al., Report on the Peer Review of the Expert Testimony in the Cases of State of Texas v. Cameron Todd Willingham and State of Texas v. Ernest Ray Willis, INNOCENCE PROJECT (Mar. 28, 2006), 39 House Bill 1068, amended Chapter 38, Code of Criminal Procedure by adding Texas Forensic Science Commission ("FSC"). The bill's authors were Senator Whitmire, Senator Hinojosa and Representative Driver. About Us, TEX. FORENSIC SCI. COMM N, us/about/ (last visited February 8, 2014).

15 2014] THE DEATH OF FAIRNESS 7 methods and procedures used in both criminal arson cases. 40 On August 17, 2009, Dr. Beyler issued a comprehensive sixty-four page report, in which he concluded: The investigations of the Willis and Willingham fires did not comport with either the modern standard of care expressed by NFPA 921, or the standard of care expressed by fire investigation texts and papers in the period The investigators had poor understanding of fire science and failed to acknowledge or apply the contemporaneous understanding of the limitations of fire indicators. Their methodologies did not comport with the scientific method or the process of elimination. A finding of arson could not be sustained based upon the standard of care expressed by NFPA 921, or the standard of care expressed by fire investigation texts and papers in the period Dr. Beyler was scheduled to testify before the Forensic Science Commission in October 2009, and the commission s final report on the cases was scheduled to appear in early However, just two days before Dr. Beyler was scheduled to present its damaging findings to the commission, Governor Perry replaced the Chairman of the commission, along with three other appointees. 42 In what many called a cover-up, Perry appointed to the seat a Williamson County District Attorney, whom he had originally appointed to the district attorney s office in 2001: It looked an awful lot like the governor had used a crony to scuttle a meeting at which the commission was going to hear from an expert that Perry had overseen the execution of an innocent man. 43 Despite national outcry and ridicule for the many Texas cases gone awry, there continues to be endemic indifference to the problems plaguing the Texas s criminal justice system. Despite the realities that confront them, the Texas movers and shakers remain disconcertingly steadfast about the thoughtful implementation of capital punishment and recalcitrant on the issue of modifying statutes to follow advancements in forensic medical data. In Texas a flawed capital punishment system is particularly disturbing because of the staggering statistics. Since the revision of its death penalty statutes in 1976, Texas has executed 515 individuals as of June 30, 2014; the most recent on April 16, 2014, when Texas executed #999417, Jose Villegas. 44 With the diligent efforts of the Innocence Project, Texas has had 12 exonerations from , and they continue to work on hundreds of cases every year marks the 41st anniversary of the post-furman Texas death penalty statute. This article argues that, as enacted, Article did not meet the requirements set forth in Furman. Namely that the future dangerousness provision of that statute allows the 40 CRAIG L. BEYLER, ANALYSIS OF THE FIRE INVESTIGATION METHODS AND PROCEDURES USED IN THE CRIMINAL ARSON CASES OF ERNEST RAY WILLIS AND TODD CAMERON WILLINGHAM 1 (2009), available at willes.willingham.anaylsis.final.pdf. 41 Id. at Matt Smith & Ed Lavandera, Perry Squashed Texas Execution Probe. Ex-official Says, CNN POLITICS (Sep. 8, 2011, 11:01 PM), execution.probe/. 43 Hall, supra note Executed Offenders, TEX. DEP T CRIM. JUST. (June 30, 2014), 45 See Exoneration Statistics by State, DEATH PENALTY INFO. CENTER (Mar. 12, 2014), Per the National Registry of Exonerations, total exonerations in Texas number 133; in 2013, Texas had 13 exonerations -the highest number of all states for that year. See NATIONAL REGISTRY OF EXONERATIONS, EXONERATIONS IN (2014), in_2013_ Report.pdf.

16 8 UNIVERSITY OF DENVER CRIMINAL LAW REVIEW [Vol. 4 admissibility of unreliable expert testimony in violation of the Due Process Clause of the U.S. Constitution and the Eighth Amendment. Further, it argues that these unreliable predictions are inadmissible under Texas Rule of Evidence 702 because they do not meet the requirements for scientific reliability established under Texas law. Thus, there is no alternative but to abolish it to prevent further abuses and injustices. Future dangerousness has been the subject of a voluminous jurisprudence from mental health and legal professionals. Yet there has been no systematic attempt to examine both the legislative history of the 1973 statute, and its amendment history to show the consequences of its flawed inception. Additionally, there has been no critical analysis of Texas Court of Criminal Appeals opinions involving these unreliable predictions to show the inexplicable pattern of incongruent holdings, the result of which being precisely the arbitrary decisions Furman sought to eradicate. This article attempts to fill that void in numerous ways. Part I examines in detail the legislative history of the 1973 statute, and concludes that the hasty addition of the future dangerousness provision was simply a codification of then existing practice. This part will show that long before 1973 prosecutors were already relying on the testimony of unreliable forensic mental health professionals to convince a jury to render a death verdict. Since 1973, the Texas Legislature has amended Article at least nine times. 46 Part II explores three of the amendments that relate to future dangerousness to show the constitutional deficiencies of the statute, and how a hodgepodge of repairs has failed to yield the lofty promises of Furman. It argues that, despite legislative tinkering and the significant transformations of expert admissibility, the future dangerousness provision remains immutable. Part III examines the early decades following the enactment of the statute, showcasing the infamous testimony of Dr. Death to show the State s abuse of future dangerousness predictions. This section examines the evolution of stricter standards of expert admissibility and judicial gatekeeping. Further, this section argues that in spite these changes, Texas continues to admit unreliable scientific testimony to support its death sentences. It concludes with a brief review of Dr. Richard Coons s testimony, and the landmark Coble case, where the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals was forced to acknowledge the unreliability of this testimony. Part IV explores the futility of appellate review in Texas to correct trial error. It examines a number of opinions from the Court of Criminal Appeals that demonstrate an evident pattern of judicial contradiction. This section demonstrates how failure to correct error in the trial court proceedings results in an ineffective and meaningless appellate review of capital opinions ultimately resulting in impermissible constitutional outcomes. PART I. THE TEXAS LEGISLATURE AND FURMAN: FUTURE DANGEROUSNESS INQUIRY - A HASTY ADDITION TO THE REVAMPED DEATH PENALTY STATUTE Under the current death penalty scheme, once a defendant is convicted of a capital offense, the court holds a separate sentencing proceeding to determine whether the defendant is sentenced to death or life imprisonment without parole. 47 During this hearing, both sides may present evidence that the court deems relevant to the sentence. 48 Upon the conclusion of the presentation of the evidence, the jury must answer two questions 46 TEX. CODE CRIM PROC. ANN. art (West 2013). 47 Id. 2(a)(1). In 2005, Texas passed a bill that gave juries the option of sentencing a defendant to life without parole. See Texas Governor Signs Life Without Parole Bill Into Law, DEATH PENALTY INFO. CENTER (2014), 48 TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. 2(a)(1) (West 2013).

17 2014] THE DEATH OF FAIRNESS 9 unanimously: 1) whether there is a probability that the defendant would commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing threat to society ; and 2) whether the defendant actually caused the death of the deceased or did not actually cause the death of the deceased but intended to kill the deceased or another or anticipated that a human life would be taken. 49 The state is required to prove each issue beyond a reasonable doubt, and the jury must answer yes unanimously, or no only if ten jurors agree. 50 Once the jury answers both issues affirmatively, it must then answer the following issue: whether, taking into consideration all of the evidence, including the circumstances of the offense, the defendant's character and background, and the personal moral culpability of the defendant, there is a sufficient mitigating circumstance or circumstances to warrant that a sentence of life imprisonment without parole rather than a death sentence be imposed. 51 But to understand how future dangerousness became the touchstone of the death penalty statute, a short journey into the 63 rd Legislature in 1973 is warranted. A. TEXAS IS FORCED TO MOVE QUICKLY TO REVAMP ITS DEATH PENALTY STATUTE Prior to Furman, the Texas death penalty statutes contained no sentencing guidelines; there were no mitigating or aggravating circumstances or objective standards of any kind to guide or regularize the process, so that death penalties throughout Texas were wantonly and freakishly imposed. 52 It was precisely this unfettered and arbitrary discretion that Furman sought to eliminate. After Furman, Texas moved quickly to revamp its death penalty legislation to ensure its compliance with Furman s constitutional mandate against the arbitrary or capricious imposition of the death penalty. The Texas statute that ultimately became effective on June 14, 1973, 53 contained five capital offenses, 54 and a procedure for the sentencing stage of a capital trial. This procedure was designed to provide structure for the jury, based on three special questions or issues that the jury had to answer during deliberations. On May 28, 1973, a Conference Committee of the 63 rd Legislature, composed of ten members, produced the future dangerousness inquiry as one of three special questions or issues in HB 200: 1) whether the conduct of the defendant that caused the death of the deceased was committed deliberately and with the reasonable expectation that the death of the deceased or another would result; 2) whether there is probability that the defendant would commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing threat to society; and 3) if raised by the evidence, whether the conduct of the defendant in killing the deceased was unreasonable in response to the provocation, if any, by the deceased Id. 2(b)(1)(2). 50 Id. 2(d)(2). 51 Id. 2(e)(1). 52 See Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238, 310 (1972) (Stewart, J., concurring) ( I simply conclude that the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments cannot tolerate the infliction of a sentence of death under legal systems that permit this unique penalty to be so wantonly and so freakishly imposed. ). 53 Act of June 14, 1973, ch. 426 art. 1-3, 1973 Tex. Gen. Laws 1122, See id. art. 2 1, at CONF. COMMITTEE, CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REPORT ON HOUSE BILL NO. 200, 63d Leg., Reg. Sess., at 8-9 (Tex. 1973).

18 10 UNIVERSITY OF DENVER CRIMINAL LAW REVIEW [Vol. 4 Under the statute, the state was required to prove each issue beyond a reasonable doubt. 56 The capital defendant would receive either a sentence of death or life imprisonment based on the jury s answer to these questions. Although the statute did not direct the jury s vote either way, it required them to answer the questions where an affirmative answer by twelve jurors to all issues would result in a death sentence. However, a negative response to any issue would result in a life sentence, but the jury could not give a negative response to any issue unless ten or more jurors agreed. 57 While the legislative history of the death penalty statute reveals numerous hours of debate and haggling over the bill itself, these three special issues came out of the Conference Committee with little, if any, debate or legislative scrutiny a significant flaw that would ominously presage lethal consequences. Unquestionably, heated debates on the floor of the legislature and the numerous amendments to the bill reveal a single-minded objective: to ensure that the revamped death penalty statute would pass Furman s constitutional mandate. Yet, amazingly, the section of the bill that has been most problematic the future dangerousness inquiry remains shrouded in mystery. The record reveals that it was engrafted into the bill by a handful of members over the weekend before the session came to a close, and received no thoughtful consideration or debate on the issue in either House. B. LEGISLATIVE STRUGGLE TO RESTORE A DEATH PENALTY THAT WOULD COMPLY WITH FURMAN - A BRIEF JOURNEY TO THE 63 RD TEXAS LEGISLATURE The Senate introduced two death penalty bills, which were not considered in a public hearing until shortly after the House passed H.B. 200: S.B. 10, authored by Senator William Meier 58 and S.B. 20, authored by Senator Ogg. 59 As introduced, both bills contained the same leniency provision as H.B. 200, but upon consideration in committee, Meier convinced the committee to substitute for S.B. 10 a completely revamped bill. 60 Discussion from the Senate Jurisprudence Committee hearings reveals that some senators took the District and County Attorneys Opinions and the House s response to mean that a mandatory bill would be the only way to make H.B. 200 constitutionally permissible. 61 Senator Meier disagreed with the idea that a mandatory bill would be constitutional; in fact, he stated that this was erroneous. 62 Focusing not on the swing justices in the majority, 56 Id. at Id. 58 S. JOURNAL, 63d Leg., Reg. Sess., at 593 (Tex. 1973). 59 See id. at S. Subcomm. on Criminal Matters, 63d Leg. Reg. Sess. (Tex. 1973); Hearings on Tex. H.B. 200 Before the S. Comm. on Jurisprudence., 63d Leg., Reg. Sess. (Tex. 1973) [hereinafter Hearings], Deb. on H.B 200 on the Floor of the S., 63d Leg., Reg. Sess. (Tex. 1973). 61 S. Subcomm. on Criminal Matters, 63d Leg. Reg. Sess. (Tex. 1973) (statement of Sen. Ogg on May 23, 1973). 62 Id. In 1976, Meier s views were proved correct by the holding of the Supreme Court in Woodson v. North Carolina, a case which struck down the state s mandatory death penalty statute for a broad category of homicides. Woodson v. North Carolina, 428 U.S. 280, 304 (1976) ( The history of mandatory death penalty statutes in the United States thus reveals that the practice of sentencing to death all persons convicted of a particular offense has been rejected as unduly harsh and unworkably rigid. The two crucial indicators of evolving standards of decency respecting the imposition of punishment in our society -- jury determinations and legislative enactments -- both point conclusively to the repudiation of automatic death sentences. At least since the Revolution, American jurors have, with some regularity, disregarded their oaths and refused to convict defendants where a death sentence was the automatic consequence of a guilty verdict. As we have seen, the initial movement to reduce the number of capital offenses and to separate murder into degrees was prompted in

19 2014] THE DEATH OF FAIRNESS 11 but those in the minority in Furman, Meier believed that neither Chief Justice Burger nor Justice Blackmun would vote for a mandatory death penalty, but that their votes were necessary to uphold any death penalty statute. 63 Meier convinced the Committee to report to the Senate Floor Meier s substitute for S.B. 10, as part of an agreement with Senator Ogg to debate the two different philosophies of how the death penalty may be reinstated in light of the Supreme Court decision this past summer Meier and Ogg came to an agreement that Meier s bill would be reported out by the Committee, and Ogg would offer an amendment to the bill striking the remainder of Meier s bill below the enacting clause and substitute it with the mandatory bill passed by the House. 65 Ogg s amendment was tabled after a discussion of the merits between the two approaches. 66 Meier reiterated his view before the Senate Floor, as he did before the Committee, that the Supreme Court would hold a mandatory death penalty bill unconstitutional. 67 Additionally, Senator Meier believed that a second aspect of the bill, which made it constitutionally impermissible under Furman, was the lack of guidance given to the jury in making the decision to render the death penalty. 68 Referring to the three companion cases decided by the Furman Court, he noted that there were no statutory guidelines for the juries in any of those three cases. 69 Meier s argument ultimately prevailed in the Senate, and his proposed amendment was the one accepted by the Senate as the starting point for further amendments of the bill from the Senate floor. 70 All subsequent amendments after Meier s bill were accepted with regard to the substantive elements of a capital offense. 71 No amendment purported to change the procedure as enunciated in Meier s bill. 72 The record indicates that legislators were more concerned with death penalty eligible offenses than they were with the procedure under which someone would be sentenced to death, a miscalculation that has become more significant as the multiple subsequent amendments to cure an initially procedurally flawed statute have proven. Meier s answer to Furman s mandate, with respect to the procedure under which juries were to sentence capital defendants, was to bifurcate the guilt and innocence phase before the same jury. 73 The language in Meier s bill regarding aggravating and mitigating part by the reaction of jurors as well as by reformers who objected to the imposition of death as the penalty for any crime. ). 63 See Deb. on H.B 200 on the Floor of the S., 63d Leg., Reg. Sess. (Tex. 1973). 64 Id.; Hearings, supra note 60 (statement of Sen. Meier). 65 See Hearings, supra note 60 (statement of Sen. Meier); See also S. JOURNAL, 63d Leg., Reg. Sess., at (Tex. 1973). 66 See S. JOURNAL, 63d Leg., Reg. Sess., at 1442 (Tex. 1973). 67 Deb. on H.B 200 on the Floor of the S., 63d Leg., Reg. Sess. (Tex. 1973). 68 Id. 69 Id. 70 See S. JOURNAL, 63d Leg., Reg. Sess., at 1442 (Tex. 1973). 71 Id. at Id. 73 Id. at 1442, Although the Model Penal Code formulation and procedure was in existence for some time before Furman, it was adopted by no state until after Furman was decided: In recent years[,] academic and professional sources have suggested that jury sentencing discretion should be controlled by standards of some sort. The American Law Institute first published such a recommendation in Several States have enacted new criminal codes in the intervening 12 years, some adopting features of the Model Penal Code. Other States have modified their laws with respect to murder and the death penalty in other ways. None of these States have followed the Model Penal Code and adopted statutory criteria for imposition of the death penalty. McGautha v. California, 402 U.S. 183, (1971) (emphasis added).

20 12 UNIVERSITY OF DENVER CRIMINAL LAW REVIEW [Vol. 4 circumstances was substantially the Model Penal Code s formulation. 74 However, Meier omitted one aggravating factor covering multiple or serial murders and one mitigating factor concerning circumstances that the defendant believed provided a moral justification for his conduct. 75 Although the Texas statute was later amended to give the prosecutor discretion whether or not to seek the death penalty in a capital case, a prosecutor who charged a capital offense under Meier s bill, as first passed by the Senate, would necessarily proceed after a guilty finding by the jury to the sentencing phase. 76 As in the former statutes, the jury chooses between confinement or death. Under the new bill, the jury would be instructed on the aggravating factors, which make a particular crime death-eligible; and mitigating factors, which make the individual characteristics of the defendant inappropriately suited for the punishment of death. 77 The recurring tension between Senator Ogg s belief that a mandatory bill would be constitutional and Meier s belief that it would not was that Senator Ogg did not believe a mandatory death penalty was ideal from a policy perspective. 78 The bill was ultimately passed by the Senate on 74 Compare S. JOURNAL, 63d Leg., Reg. Sess., at (Tex. 1973) (offering an amendment so as to substitute Sen. Meier s bill), with MODEL PENAL CODE 210.6(3)-(4) (Proposed Official Draft 1962) (listing the aggravating and mitigating circumstances of criminal homicide). The aggravating and mitigating circumstances listed in the Model Penal Code were as follows: (3) Aggravating Circumstances. (a) The murder was committed by a convict under sentence of imprisonment. (b) The defendant was previously convicted of another murder or of a felony involving the use or threat of violence to the person. (c) At the time the murder was committed the defendant also committed another murder. (d) The defendant knowingly created a great risk of death to many persons. (e) The murder was committed while the defendant was engaged or was an accomplice in the commission of, or an attempt to commit, or flight after committing or attempting to commit robbery, rape or deviate sexual intercourse by force or threat or force, arson, burglary, or kidnapping. (f) The murder was committed for the purpose of avoiding or preventing a lawful arrest or effecting an escape from lawful custody. (g) The murder was committed for pecuniary gain. (h) The murder was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel, manifesting exceptional depravity. (4) Mitigating Circumstances. (a) The defendant has no significant history of prior criminal activity. (b) The murder was committed while the defendant was under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance. (c) The victim was a participant in the defendant s homicidal conduct or consented to the homicidal act. (d) The murder was committed under circumstances which the defendant believed to provide moral justification or extenuation for his conduct. (e) The defendant was an accomplice in a murder committed by another person and his participation in the homicidal act was relatively minor. (f) The defendant acted under duress or under the domination of another person. (g) At the time of the murder, the capacity of the defendant to appreciate the criminality [wrongfulness] of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law was impaired as a result of mental disease or defect or intoxication. (h) The youth of the defendant at the time of the crime. Id. 75 Compare S. JOURNAL, 63d Leg., Reg. Sess., at (Tex. 1973) (offering an amendment so as to substitute Sen. Meier s bill), with MODEL PENAL CODE 210.6(3) to (4) (listing the aggravating and mitigating circumstances of criminal homicide). 76 See S. JOURNAL, 63d Leg., Reg. Sess., at 1442, 1445 (Tex. 1973). 77 COMM. SUBSTITUTE H.B. 200, 63d Leg., Reg. Sess., (Tex. 1973); S. JOURNAL, 63d Leg., Reg. Sess., (1973). Commenting on these factors before the Senate Jurisprudence Committee, Meier interpreted the intent of the drafters of the Model Penal Code, what I would think they re trying to get at is that it s going to have these narrowly confined circumstances to look at in terms of aggravating and mitigating factors. S. Subcomm. on Criminal Matters, 63d Leg. Reg. Sess. (Tex. 1973). 78 As the chair of the Senate Jurisprudence Committee remarked, My heart goes with Meier s bill if we re going to have one, because at least there s a but I think it would be unconstitutional, and [Ogg s] is just cold [laughter]." 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